The following is a look back at July through December of 2009. The first six months of 2009 appeared in last week’s edition.
Plans moved ahead for the formation of a girls varsity hockey team at Presque Isle High School. The committee to form the team got the go-ahead from SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson, so long as there is sufficient student interest, the logistics of implementing the program worked out and that the first three years of operational costs be raised from outside sources.
The Presque Isle Patriots recorded an 8-12 record and just missed out on qualifying for the American Legion Zone 1 baseball playoffs. The team included players from throughout central and southern Aroostook County and was coached by Rich Parsons.
Several area athletes advanced to the Hershey Track and Field state meet following their efforts at the regional meet held in Caribou. Griffin Guerrette of Mapleton won three events at both the regional and state competitions in the ages 9-10 boys age group. Cassidy Pelletier of Ashland and Ryan King of Mars Hill qualified for the national meet held in Hershey, Pa.
Sarah Porter of Presque Isle was the recipient of a scholarship from the Maine Sports Legends.
Ron McAtee of Presque Isle took first place in the Re/Max World Long Drive regional qualifier held at Mars Hill Country Club.
The annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival saw champions crowned in events ranging from 3-on-3 basketball and a girls softball tournament to road racing and a regatta.
Phil Pelletier of Presque Isle was the winner of the Cary Classic Benefit Golf Tournament, which took place at Caribou Country Club.
Michael Hersey took low gross honors and Matthew McCarty was the net winner at the 42nd Spudland Open Golf Tournament, held at Presque Isle Country Club.
Charlie Moore, known as “The Mad Fisherman” on NESN and ESPN, visited Aroostook County to fish muskie on the Big Black River in northern Aroostook County and brook trout on Prestile Stream and Three Brooks in the central Aroostook area.
The Presque Isle swim team won the County swim meet for Northern Maine Community Recreation Association teams, held at the Presque Isle Indoor Pool.
Jenna Hallett of Presque Isle won the girls’ 10-12 age division of the County Singles Tennis Tournament, scoring an 8-2 win over Erin Patton of Caribou in the finals.
The TAMC/Nordic Heritage Center Fat Tire Festival was a popular event, attracting mountain bikers from as far away as Texas.
Cassidy Pelletier of Ashland placed fifth in the age 9-10 girls softball throw and Ryan King of Mars Hill was 13th in the age 11-12 boys softball throw at the North American Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program.
The Presque Isle junior girls softball team defeated Madawaska in the finals of the County junior girls softball tournament, held in Presque Isle.
The doubles team of Mike Picard and Connor Shaw captured the 13-15 boys title and Ben Picard and Caleb Mathers were the 16-18 boys winners at the County Doubles Tennis Tournament in Caribou.
Long-time basketball officials Roger Shaw of Mars Hill and Lynwood McHatten of Ashland earned induction into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors. Shaw is the superintendent of schools at SAD 42 and McHatten a guidance director at Ashland District High School. Former running great Andy Palmer of Madawaska was inducted post-humously.
Mars Hill native Ryan Shaw made his debut as the new coach of the Easton Bears boys soccer team. Shaw had previously coached at Hampden Academy, with his team going 62-19-3 in five years and winning an Eastern Maine title in 2004.
Tim Olore (Class of 1983), David Hamel (1998) and Stephanie (Gagnon) Brewer (2003) were inducted into the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls’ Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Presque Isle Wildcat girls and boys soccer teams opened with victories. The girls topped Caribou and the boys blanked Bucksport.
Jeff Ashby of Fort Fairfield and Marie Strouse of Caribou were victorious at the Caribou Labor Day Road Race.
Alecia Palmer took second place at the Ellsworth Invitational Cross Country Meet. The PIHS runner had a time of 18:17, which was just four seconds behind winner Dacie Manion of Old Town.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers and the Central Aroostook Panthers were the top two teams in the Aroostook County Golf Championships, which took place at Aroostook Valley Country Club. Both qualified for the team state tournament at Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro. Making it into the state meet as individuals were Fort’s Josh Churchill and Ian Girvan and CA’s Kaine Kingsbury and Will Delong.
Presque Isle native Jim Carter was featured for authoring a book entitled “Six Decades of Wildcat Basketball: A History of Boys and Girls Basketball at Presque Isle High School 1950-2009.”
The Houlton Knights defeated the Huskies, made up of players from the Caribou and Presque Isle areas, by a score of 41-12 in an Aroostook Football League game played in Caribou.
The Presque Isle Middle School girls cross country team won the Aroostook League title in a meet held in Caribou.
The Presque Isle golf team moved to 7-1 with a victory over Caribou at Presque Isle Country Club.
The Wildcat golf team qualified for the Class B state championships by placing second in the Penobscot Valley Conference championship meet held at JaTo Highlands in Lincoln. Evan Waddell posted his team’s low round with an 81. Alex Tuttle’s 88 led the way for Presque Isle at the individual state tourney.
Alfred Hanscom and Marie Strouse were crowned champions in the Aroostook Musterds’ County Challenge Road Racing Series. It was Hanscom’s second consecutive title and the first for Strouse.
The Taco Bell Patriots took to the field for the first time against the Valley Spartans in the Aroostook Football League for middle school players. The game was held at the Northern Maine Community College field.
The Presque Isle varsity cross country teams competed in the PVC Championships in Bangor. The boys placed third and the girls fourth in the overall standings.
Eight local soccer teams qualified for the Eastern Maine playoffs. For the boys, Ashland, Central Aroostook and Presque Isle all earned berths, while on the girls side, Ashland, Central Aroostook, Easton, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle made the cut. The Wildcat girls entered as the No. 1 seed in EM Class B with their undefeated record. The PI boys went 12-0-2 on the regular season and were seeded second in EM Class B.
The Presque Isle boys lost to Ellsworth, the Central Aroostook boys fell to Bangor Christian and the Ashland girls were beaten by Southern Aroostook in Eastern Maine championship soccer matches. The PI girls were upset by Caribou in the semifinal round of the playoffs in a match decided by penalty kicks.
The Wildcat girls and boys cross country teams each placed fourth at the Eastern Maine Class B Championships held in Belfast. Alecia Palmer placed second in the meet with a time of 20 minutes, 14.35 seconds on the 3.1-mile course. At the state meet in Cumberland, Palmer was 11th overall. Matt Eager led the boys with a 39th-place finish in 18:12.
UMPI cross country runners Justin Fereshetian and Shelly Hanson qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Wash. following their performances in the Sunrise Conference Championship held at UMPI.
The Northern Maine Community College men’s soccer team made it to the Yankee Small College Conference semifinals, but lost to top-seeded New Hampshire Technical Institute, 4-0.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle volleyball team, coached by Terry Cummings, won the Sunrise Conference title with a 3-1 win over UM-Fort Kent in the championship match held in Standish.
Both UMPI soccer teams were eliminated in the semifinal round of the Sunrise tourney.
Nate Ackerson of Presque Isle, Casey Cobb and Brooke LaBelle, both of Ashland, were recipients of the annual Butch Shaw Award, presented annually to the top soccer players in Aroostook County.
NMCC student-athletes Parker Brown and Lucas Ireland, both of Mapleton, and Zachary Dinsmore of Caribou all made the All-Academic Teams in their respective sports by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Brown and Ireland were members of the Falcons soccer team, while Dinsmore was on the golf team.
The Presque Isle varsity hockey team took the Holiday Cup Hockey Tournament played at Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer. In regular season play, Presque Isle reeled off a six-game winning streak after a season-opening loss to Brewer. Brennen Shaw became the school’s all-time leading point scorer with his 129th career point, which came in a match against Greely.
The Central Aroostook boys and the Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle girls teams finished the first month of the regular season with undefeated records.
Brooke Long-Postell, Chelsea Nickerson and Kayla Richards of the Presque Isle girls varsity soccer team, Nate Ackerson and Dillon Kingsbury of the Presque Isle boys; and Casey Cobb of the Ashland boys all were named to the Maine Soccer Coaches’ all-state team.
The Presque Isle swim team hosted its first meet of the season, with the Brewer Witches paying a visit to the Presque Isle Indoor Pool.
PIHS students Jordyn Kinney and Michaela Powers participated with a group of National Cheerleaders Association cheerleaders from throughout the nation in the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade in Orlando, Fla.
The Central Aroostook boys were victorious at a giant slalom meet held at Lonesome Pine Trails in Fort Kent. Shane Miller of the Panthers recorded a first-place finish.
